The University of Michigan Medical School today announced the establishment of the Eric J. Topol Professorship in Cardiovascular Medicine. A world-renowned cardiologist, Dr. Topol is currently chief academic officer at Scripps Health and a senior cardiologist practitioner at Scripps Clinic.

Dr. Topol was a faculty member at the University of Michigan from 1985-1991, a time of rapid advancement in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction. During his time with the university, he served as professor of internal medicine, and later director of the cardiac catheterization labs and the interventional cardiology program in the university’s department of internal medicine.

Approved by the University of Michigan’s Board of Regents, the creation of this new professorship represents a relatively rare event at the school. It was initiated to honor Dr. Topol’s many clinical and research contributions to the subspecialty of interventional cardiology, both to the University of Michigan and the medical field at large. This professorship will support the academic endeavors of a senior University of Michigan faculty member with expertise in cardiovascular medicine.

The inaugural recipient of the professorship is Dr. Stanley Chetcuti, director of the cardiac catheterization labs at the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center. Dr. Chetcuti trained under Dr. Topol at the Cleveland Clinic, where Dr, Topol chaired the department of cardiovascular medicine for 15 years and raised its status to rank No. 1 by U.S. News & World Report for 11 straight years.

Dr. Topol was instrumental in defining the role of coronary thrombolysis as a lifesaving treatment for acute myocardial infarction. He also has made seminal contributions in understanding the role of platelets, percutaneous coronary interventions and genetics in acute coronary syndromes. He has been recognized by the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI) to be in the top 10-cited biomedical researchers in medicine during the past decade.

He was elected to the membership of the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences in 2004. Dr. Topol’s work in the genomics of heart attack has led to discovery of key genes recognized by the American Heart Association twice as top 10 research advances, as well as recognition by Time Magazine as a top 10 medical breakthrough in 2010.

Dr. Topol also currently serves as director of the National Institutes of Health-funded , which he founded in 2007. In addition, he is a founder and vice chairman of the West Wireless Health Institute.